All These Things
by scared of clouds
Summary: A series of James/Lily drabbles based on prompts, all canon compatible. JK Rowling owns HP, and no copyright infringement is intended. Cover art is by Burdge.
1. Three Years

**A/N: This one was written for _arashi wolf princess,_ whose birthday is today, and it was requested for her by_ vampygurl402. _There wasn't a specific prompt, so this is just something that was rattling around in my head.  
**

**I hope you had a nice birthday. I suddenly realised that I didn't know what time zone you are in, but it's 30th August here so I'm hoping it's the same where you are!**

* * *

_Fifth Year_

James Potter was an arse. Lily stormed across the grass, hoping to put as much distance between him and herself as possible, just in case the urge to hex him into next week actually overpowered her greater good sense.

She eventually found herself on the far side of the lake – ironic really, since she'd just expressed a preference for one of its inhabitants rather than the messy haired idiot that was currently occupying the number two slot in her 'biggest prat in the universe' rankings – and she dropped down to sit on a large rock near the edge.

Of course it wasn't just him was it? There was the small matter of the _other _dark-haired boy in her life, who was currently firmly planted in the number_ one_ spot on 'Lily Evans' biggest arseholes' list. In that respect, at least, he'd finally bested James Potter.

Sev. Severus. _Snape_. She supposed she'd start using Snape now. Both of the others seemed too familiar for someone who was now more like an enemy than even an acquaintance. She'd known, in all honesty she'd known for a long time, that there was almost nothing left of their friendship; she'd stopped confiding in him, he'd begun to actively hide things from her. They spent no time together except during holidays at home when there was no-one to see them and tell tales. She was fairly sure that Se…Snape, hadn't realised that she'd figured that out. They hadn't been_ friends_ for a while.

She hugged herself tightly. Friends seemed to be a rare commodity these days; she seemed to have fewer and fewer all the time.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there before she heard footsteps behind her. Whoever it was stopped just a couple of feet away from her, and stood silently for a moment. Then they moved towards her, and a hand offered her a cloak.

She looked upwards, and hazel eyes framed in messy hair looked down at her. She sighed, then looked resolutely forward again, refusing the offer of the cloak.

'You know, you are about the last person I want to see.'

'I know it. Even if I didn't, Moony said as much. So did Pete. Even Sirius, though he expressed it a little more bluntly than they did. It might interest you to know that all three of them offered to come out here and find you.'

The thought warmed her heart a little; she didn't know any of them that well, though they'd all been civil enough over the years, and it seemed incredible that she'd just been ruminating on her lack of friends and then she heard something like that.

'Why didn't you let one of them come then?'

James shifted nervously. 'Because I owe you an apology. It's not someone else's fuck up to fix.'

Well, he rose in her estimation. Not that that would be hard at this point. 'Feel free to start any time then.'

He sighed and sat down on the ground next to the rock she was still perching uncomfortably on, staring ahead just as she was. 'You may not believe it, but I'm sorry for what happened. Snape and I…I'll never be able to explain it to you, just like he probably couldn't either, but we _hate _each other, and we fight. We fight a lot, and whatever he may have told you before, I don't always start it. What I did today…that wasn't us fighting. That was me being a bastard. And I'm sorry you got dragged into our feud.'

Lily felt the sincerity of his words, but the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach wouldn't go away. It hadn't just been caused by the word Snape had spat at her – though that made up the bulk of it – it had been seeing fellow Gryffindors act that way. She'd thought many things about James and his friends over the years, but she'd never thought him _vicious_.

'I appreciate the apology.'

'You're welcome. I know it's not enough.' James rose, and placed the cloak over her knees without making eye contact. 'I'll let everyone know that you'll be back in when you're ready. Remus has patrol tonight, so he'll look the other way if you need to stay out after curfew.

'Thank you.' Lily whispered the words, but he was gone.

* * *

_Sixth Year_

James Potter was…an interesting specimen, she'd decided at some point. After a rocky end to fifth year – blimey, that was an understatement – they'd tiptoed around each other until term had ended.

The something strange had happened on the trip home. Lily had been walking along the train corridor, heading back to her friends, feeling odd about the fact that she'd just passed Se…_Snape's _compartment and seen him with his_ acceptable_ friends, when a door slid open and Sirius Black had hung his head out and invited her in for exploding snap. For reasons that weren't entirely clear to her, she'd said yes, and then spent an hour playing the idiotic card game with them and being amused by their antics.

She'd returned to her friends then, and she hadn't seen any of the marauders again, not on the train or platform. The about a week into the holiday she'd received an owl carrying two letters; one from James, one from Sirius. Sirius' had been full of cheerful insults and a certain amount of interrogation about muggle motorcycles, while James'…had been full of apologies and tentative offers of friendship. It had taken her a week to respond, and since then letters had flown freely between them, with Peter and Remus joining in with the mass communication in short order.

She'd returned to Hogwarts with four official new friends, but only one of them confused the living daylights out of her.

Lily watched him from across the room as he tutored one of the younger years, his frustration showing in the number of times he swiped a hand through his hair, but his voice remaining even as he explained the process for _hedgehog into pincushion_ for what had to be the fifth time.

James Potter - the boy who was like an animated foghorn on the Quidditch pitch; who'd hung her former best friend upside down because he _felt like it_; who she'd seen throw more than one hex unprovoked in the corridors – wrote thoughtful letters, tutored younger years, abhorred bigotry and the dark arts and championed the underprivileged and underrepresented. He was a walking bloody contradiction.

Sirius, Remus, Peter; they all made sense to her. _He_ didn't. And damned if she wasn't _determined_ to figure him out. She'd get to know him better this year, find the _real_ James Potter in all the layers.

She wondered what he was like.

* * *

_Seventh Year_

It turned out James Potter was…well, bloody oblivious frankly. How he could possibly be unaware of her increasingly large crush was beyond her.

They spent hours together, patrolling, writing reports, in meetings. Beyond that, they ate meals together, partnered in classes, studied together, talked, played games. And through all of that time together, he remained blissfully unaware that he took a nightly stroll through her dreams.

She wasn't sure whether she was happy or disappointed about that.

'That's it, my patience is done. Officially sapped.' James collapsed on the sofa beside her. 'Can people seriously not think of anything more original to do in the evenings than leap into the nearest broom closet and lock lips? They could at least find one where I'm not likely to come across them.'

'Welcome to responsibility.' Lily answered. 'It's a thorny road, but one we must walk.'

'Much too late in the evening for being all philosophical Evans.'

'Don't call me Evans.' The words came out automatically; she'd been attempting to get him to call her Lily exclusively for months, but he persisted with Evans at times. It frustrated her no end, since it just reminded her of a time when they weren't friends.

'Sorry _Lily_.'

And of course, there was also the fact that she liked the way her name sounded on his tongue. Merlin, she was pathetic. Maybe it was time to be a Gryffindor about all this.

'Going to Hogsmeade next weekend?' She asked as casually as possible.

James grunted, his head titled back to rest on the sofa cushions, his eyes closed. 'Probably. We _always_ go to Hogsmeade don't we?'

Lily _hmmmmed_ noncommittally as she continued to covertly observe him. 'Maybe…would you be interested in doing things a little differently this time?'

He cracked open one eye and turned his head slightly to peer at her. 'What are you suggesting Lily?'

'I thought…that maybe we could go together? As in, just the two of us. You know,_ together_.'

James opened his other eye and stared incredulously. 'Lily Catherine Evans, are you _blushing_?'

She couldn't summon an answer, and she kept her eyes determinedly away from him, but his hand crept over and covered hers.

'I'd love to.' He answered, his expression trying to convey as much sincerity as possible.

Her face brightened as she turned to look at him. 'You would?'

'I really would.'

* * *

**A/N: Just a quick note to say that all the drabbles that will be posted here come from prompts, so I'm obviously happy to accept them...however, please don't ask me to write something to be published on a certain date! I don't always have a lot of free time, so I'd have to turn a lot of those requests down and I'd feel awful. This one was an exception, because it's the first time anyone has asked me and I thought it was a very sweet gesture to request a fic for a friend. **

**Also, while you can PM me on here to submit a drabble request/suggestion, it's much easier for me to keep track of them if they're submitted on Tumblr, so if at all possible please submit them over there (you don't need an account, just follow the link on my profile and submit an anon ask - you can sign it or not, totally up to you). Be warned, I have about forty requests at any given time, plus my in progress fics and own plot bunnies to work on, so it can take some time to answer a prompt. **

**Thanks for reading guys xx**


	2. The Sharp Knife

**A/N: Another fic written not from a prompt, but for a birthday! This was written for one of my lovely Tumblr friends' - snapslikethis - birthday, and the idea was to write something that would make people cry. Sorry about that, if it in fact works.**

**Rating: T**

* * *

_If I die young, bury me in satin_

_Lay me down on a bed of roses_

_Sink me in a river at dawn_

_Send me away with the words of a love song_

It took a long time for Lily Evans to stop thinking of herself as Lily Evans, in her own head at least; she was always quick enough to correct other people. She'd become _Potter_ two years ago, but she'd been _Evans_ for so much longer than that, and it was an odd habit to have to break. Almost two decades of being one person, only to remain the exact same person with a new identity. She filled her maiden name in on forms for at least three months after the wedding.

It didn't help that her husband was so fond of her maiden name; "Evans" was thrown in her direction on a pretty regular basis, usually when he wanted something and usually accompanied by that smirk that she'd never quite become immune to. Half the time she thought he wasn't even aware that he was using it, and the other half of the time she was absolutely positive that he knew _precisely _what he was doing.

No, the fact that she was now Lily _Potter _didn't really, _one hundred percent_, sink in until the day Harry James Potter entered the world, after eight hours of crying, screaming, and at least three rounds of hexes aimed at her husband, accompanied by some swear words that even _she _didn't know she knew until that moment. Sirius' influence, clearly.

But there he was in his father's arms, their baby boy, a perfect blend of the two of them - even if the majority of the genetics seemed to have come directly from James. And speaking of James, her husband was pacing the nursery and rocking him as he hummed 'How Deep Is Your Love' as soothingly as possible, unaware that Lily had woken up and was watching him. They were a _family_ now.

_The Potters. _

And the last remnants of Lily Evans were gone, just like that. Lily Evans died, aged 20, listening to James Potter hum a love song. And she was reborn, a wife and mother as well as a witch and a woman.

_Lily Potter._ Merlin, how did she ever get here?

* * *

_There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever,_

_Who would have thought forever could be severed by…_

_...the sharp knife of a short life, oh well?_

_I've had just enough time_

'Evans!' James Potter's voice had always been loud, Lily mused, but now it was deep too. Just like the boy himself had always been tall, but now he _towered_.

There were differences though; he'd filled out over the years, soft lankiness giving way to lean muscles; his hair, while still messy and uncontrollable, had darkened from deep brown to almost black; his eyes, while they had always glinted with mischief had now developed a serious edge that could make him seem almost wise sometimes.

Sometimes she realised exactly how much she noticed about James Potter, and then she worried about it, because she had absolutely_ no business_ noticing things about James Potter.

'Evans?' His voice came again, a tinge of concern in it now. 'You alright?'

'Fine!' She looked up from her book to see him standing in front of her, hands tucked in his pockets. 'Fine, I was just...distracted.'

'Good book then?'

'Er, yeah, the book. Distracted by the book, that's right.'

He looked at her oddly. 'You _sure_ you're alright?'

'Yes.' She almost squeaked the word before she took a deep breath and answered more firmly. 'Yes. Did you want something James?'

He suddenly looked a lot less confident, and he looked down as he scuffed his shoe against the edge of the rug. 'Sort of, yeah.'

When he didn't say anything else, she nudged him. 'Yeah?'

'Oh Merlin. I really need to stop listening to Moony.' James muttered to himself, just loud enough for her to overhear. 'Evans...Lily, I...' He stopped again and pinched the bridge of his nose. Two deep breaths later he opened his eyes and looked at her. 'Lily, I was hoping that you might like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend. _Just_ with me, not me and the guys like last time.'

'Oh._ Oh_.' Lily took a moment to catch up with what he'd said, a moment in which she had the opportunity to look at him clearly. Shirt untucked, tie loosened at the neck, ink splotches on his hands. She _adored_ this stupid boy, and it was going to cause so much trouble.

'It's okay if you don't.' James spoke again, his voice a little lower, a little softer this time, and she realised how long it had been since either of them spoke.

'No! No, I'd...I'd like to. I just...didn't think you still wanted to. The only time you ever asked was...well, it's best forgotten. And I thought, since we were friends now...that that was all we were.'

The corner of James' lip lifted in some kind of half-grin. 'Did you think I'd given up on you, Lily Evans? I just changed the way I thought about you, that's all. I'll still adore you forever.'

'Don't mock me.'

'Evans, the only joke here is that you don't realise that I'm serious.'

* * *

_A penny for my thoughts, oh, no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar_

_They're worth so much more after I'm a goner_

_And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'_

_Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'_

Lily wanted to tear her hair out by the roots. The smug, privileged_ idiot_ on the radio broadcast talking about purebloods being the backbone of their society, how it was only right they received better treatment, made her want to scream and rage and rail at everyone.

This whole stupid war, all the deaths, the dementor attacks, entire villages quaking in fear, was because these people were so_ fucking stupid_ that they couldn't the damage they were inflicting with their bigotry.

_...I have nothing against muggleborns, but..._

_...it's for the benefit of the whole of society if everyone keeps to their rightful place…_

_...traditions should always be observed, and muggleborns don't understand that…_

_…__muggleborns and purebloods mixing, marrying, can only increase the divisions in our society..._

She slammed a plate down on the sideboard, and cursed as it cracked. Not bothering to do anything about it, she turned and headed towards the bedroom; she needed a nap. Bloody pregnancy hormones.

When James arrived home, the first thing he noted was the broken plate on the sideboard. A broken plate was very important in the Potter household, because it meant two things: one, that Lily had been clumsy enough to break a plate in the first place, which meant something had upset her; and two, that she'd been too angry or upset to trust herself with her wand to use a reparo.

He made his way to their bedroom, since he knew she was more than likely napping at this time of day. And there she was, curled up under the duvet, her head on his pillow. He sat down next to her and gently stroked her hair.

She stirred and opened her eyes. 'Hey.'

'Hey.' He smiled down at her. 'Everything okay?'

She ran a hand through her hair. 'You saw the plate then.'

'I did.'

'I was listening to a radio broadcast, and I...just got very annoyed with what the programme was about.'

James continued to softly card his fingers through her hair. 'Want to talk about it?'

'Oh, it was mostly about how marriages like ours are slowly destroying the very fabric of wizarding society.'

He snorted. 'You should tell Sirius that. He'd be so proud that he'd want to celebrate our anniversary _extra _hard. We could probably get a party out of it.'

'I just...I hate that there's nothing I can say to change their minds. I hate that no-one will listen to reason.'

James leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her forehead. 'Someday they will sweetheart. Someday soon.'

* * *

_Go with peace and love_

_Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket_

_Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em_

Lily Potter - because that was who she was, who she was _meant to be_ - heard her husband, her heart and soul and lifeblood, hit the floor with a heavy thump that could only mean he was gone.

Gone.

She looked down at Harry, sitting calmly in her arms, totally trusting of his mother's protection. James wasn't entirely gone though was he? She could see him in Harry's face, Harry's hair, Harry's smile. In truth, Harry was James so much more than he was her; if it weren't for those eyes - her father's eyes - he would have been James Potter reborn. She could think of nothing the world needed more than another man with the humour, and warmth, and good nature, and bravery of her beloved husband.

No matter what, he must survive this.

She placed him in his cot and turned to face the door. She knew exactly what was coming through it, and she was ready. For whatever it brought.

Her tears fell, but her back was straight. Whatever else her life had been, she'd been privileged to have James, and then Harry. To have known Minerva, Sirius, Remus, Frank, Peter, Dumbledore. To have seen magic, the beauty and the horror of it.

She'd _lived_.

_The sharp knife of a short life, oh well_

_I've had just enough time_

_So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls._

* * *

**A/N: The lyrics used are all from 'If I Die Young' by The Band Perry. It's an excellent song, but it's not mine. Go check it out though. **


	3. Of Nightgowns And Window Frames

**A/N: Prompt - Based on a series of handwritten notes by potting-lilies on Tumblr, you can find the link for the post if you read this in the drabble tag on my blog (there's a link on my profile). **

**Rating: T**

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**

Lily pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes and counted to ten.

Nope, didn't work. She still wanted to hex him.

She opened her eyes and looked at the hazel eyes that were staring back at her from the window of the sixth year girls' dorm, a certain amount of pleading radiating from them. She twirled her wand between her fingers as she looked at him speculatively.

'Now, Evans…' He began an obvious attempt to placate her, but he got no further than her name before she cast two spells in quick succession.

Then she turned to her desk, pulled out a spare scrap of parchment and scribbled a note before folding it into a simple aeroplane shape. Then she leaned out of the window, ignoring the boy still hanging half out of it, and tapped the parchment with her wand. It zoomed off, and she turned her attention back to what she'd been doing before she'd been so rudely interrupted; sorting out a term's worth of accumulated crap from her bag.

Not two minutes later, her paper aeroplane flew back in through the still open window and hit her in the back. She unfolded it, and read the addition to her note.

_Sirius, would you care to explain why James Potter is hanging out my window?_

**Oh Merlin. OH MERLIN. What, you just left him there?**

She picked up her quill and scribbled another line.

_Petrificus Totalused him. I added a sticking charm though, so he won't fall_.

She sent the note on its way, and continued her sorting, humming merrily.

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**

In the sixth year boys dorm, Sirius was pacing around nervously, watched by Remus and Peter who seemed significantly less ruffled by this turn of events than he was.

'She's going to let him fall. Or she'll turn him into a toad! No, worse, she's going to tell _McGonagall_. He's going to be in detention for the rest of the year.'

'Sirius, must you be such a drama queen? Lily's not going to do any of those things.' Remus assured him. 'You know she wouldn't really, she just wants to make him suffer a bit. Assuage her sense of justice and all that.'

'And what makes you so sure of that?' Sirius shot back, his pacing uninterrupted by Remus' injection of common sense.

'She wouldn't actually get him into trouble for a stupid prank. She's _used _to our dumb pranks.' Peter added, nodding his agreement with Remus. 'Besides, she likes him.'

At that moment the note flew through the window again, and Sirius seized it and wrestled it open with panicky fingers. 'She's used the body-bind on him, and a sticking charm. He's just hanging out of her window! Who _does_ something like that? The woman's _barking._'

'She's not the only one.' Peter muttered under his breath, earning a laugh from Remus, but Sirius was already scribbling a new line on the note.

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**

Lily had given up trying to sort her things out; it was difficult to focus on something when someone's eyes were constantly trained on you. Now she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall and talking to James Potter's unresponsive face.

Merlin, she'd actually run mad.

'I mean, what part of your brain thought this would be a good idea?' He didn't answer, obviously, but then she didn't really want him to, she just wanted to vent to him about his stupidity because it was the most_ frustrating_ thing about him. How could someone so smart do such dumb things from time to time? It was like he had multiple personality disorder, Mr Decent-Upstanding-Guy always vying for control with Mr Pratface-Dumbass. 'You could at least have checked that the dorm was empty, it wouldn't have taken much. Don't you bunch of morons_ plan_ this stuff? How you get away with so much of it is beyond me.'

The parchment, now looking much the worse for wear, flew in over his head and landed at her feet.

**It was a dare.**

For fucks sake. She scratched a simple '_Oh?_' below Sirius' half-arsed attempt at an explanation and sent it back on its way.

It reappeared a moment later.

**Yeah. "Steal the nightgown of the prettiest girl you know"**

Oh, for the love of…

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**

Sirius had given up pacing, mostly because the others had started shouting at him, and was now staring anxiously out of the window. The note flew back towards him from the girls' dorm room, and he caught it easily.

_Sucking up to me won't get him back_

Sirius blew out a long breath. 'Come on Moony, Pete, we'd better go fetch him.'

'How?' Remus asked incredulously. 'It's the girls dorm Sirius, we can't exactly go up and pull him in can we?'

'Summoning charm?' Suggested Peter.

'Might work in theory.' Remus answered dubiously. 'But I'm not sure that I want to_ test_ the theory on James, and several stories above the ground to be honest.'

'We'll have to do it his way.' Sirius sighed. 'We'll get him from the outside, fly brooms to the window.'

'But he's the best at flying.' Peter protested. 'I_ hate_ flying, Moony's decent but I'm not sure you and he could balance James between you.'

'We'll just have to undo Lily's body bind and get him on his broom, then try and undo the sticking charm too.' Remus sounded resigned. 'Maybe she'll undo it herself if we show up and ask her in person.'

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**

Lily reached over for another piece of strawberry liquorice.

'Why do you keep strawberry liquorice in your pocket?' She asked thoughtfully.

James looked sideways at her. 'Why _not_?'

She shrugged. 'Fair enough.' She looked back at the window, still wide open with something bulky hanging out of it, in a position very recently occupied by James. 'Think it'll work?'

'Probably.' James shifted position alongside her, his shoulder brushing hers. They were both sitting with their backs pushed up against the wall, opposite the window he'd been dangling out of until very recently. 'They won't be expecting it.'

'And you're sure they'll try to fly around and grab you?'

James shrugged. 'It's what I would do. So it's a pretty safe bet that it's what Sirius we do. We tend to think similarly.'

'I've noticed.' Lily murmured. 'Ingenious spellwork you know, managing to glamour a pair of trousers so they look like your actual legs.'

James grinned. 'Thanks. I'm good at glamours.'

'So they fly around, grab what they think are your legs…'

'And I'll cast another glamour charm on the trousers that will make them think that they're actually holding a really big snake.' James finished cheerfully. 'But the sticking charm will stop them plummeting to their deaths when the shock makes them fall off their brooms.'

'You really have no conscience when it comes to this sort of thing do you?'

'Nope.' His voice didn't lose any of its exuberance. 'Those buggers would do the same to me in a heartbeat. Any conscience I might have had has been knocked out of me over six years of mutual wind ups. Now shush, they're coming. I can hear them whispering.'

'That is _not_ whispering.'

'It's whispering to them.'

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**


	4. Not All Sunbeams And Roses

**A/N: Prompt - drabble where James and Lily fight then make up?**

**Rating: T**

**(J&L) ****(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)** **(J&L)**

'You bloody, blithering moron!'

It was pretty rare for Lily's face to flush so much it began to blend with her hair colour, but this was one of those times.

_Incandescent._ That word described her pretty well at this point. James moved discreetly out of direct firing line, distinctly wary of her casting hand as she shook her wand at him.

'What did you think you were doing? Were you even thinking at all?'

She'd been at it for a good five minutes now, and James knew that there was absolutely no point in interrupting her with anything resembling an excuse, or logic for that matter, until she was done. Sometimes, it was best to just let her wind down.

'You went. For a drink.' She scowled at him. 'A drink at the _Leaky Cauldron_, of all places! The most public place you could possibly think of! I mean, exactly how _stupid_ are you Potter?'

James was doing his best to keep a leash on his already fraying temper - he was well aware that it was more than a match for Lily's, and he knew that if he blew up as well they'd be fighting for hours - but he was being sorely tested. He remained silent, not trusting himself to speak.

'You are right up there on the Death Eater hit-list and you go out drinking in _public_?' Arm-waving had started now, a sure sign that Lily's temper was reaching its limits. 'And to make things just that _little bit better_, you went with Sirius! One of the few people they'd be even more eager to get their hands on than you! Of all the idiotic, stupid, _brainless_…'

'All right, that's _enough_.' James heard his voice come out in that low tone he knew she hated; if her temper was fire, quick burning rage, his was ice – slow to move but implacable once it started. 'It wasn't the best idea. Poor judgment on my part, I admit it. But _nothing happened_. You're being hysterical over something so incredibly tiny…'

Lily stared incredulously and snarled her response. 'The Death Eaters cast the dark mark and set fire to a shop only a few doors up from there. They came within _yards_ of you.'

'And they didn't get anywhere near me.' James replied shortly.

'That's not the point!'

'What _is_ the fucking point here Lily?'

'You could have died!' She screamed at him, wand falling from her fingers as her hand began to tremble. 'You could have been captured, tortured….for a stupid drink that you could have had in any pub in the country! Or at someone's house! You could have….you could have…'

She trailed off on a broken sob, and James felt his temper die back a little, not _gone_, but it's importance blunted, edged out by the wretchedness her hoarse and shaky voice evoked in him. He reached out for her, but she backed away from him, one hand raised defensively.

'Don't.'

'Lily…' He searched for words. 'I know it was careless. And I won't do it again. But it's not worth fighting over, and it's certainly not worth getting yourself worked up into this kind of state. I came home, safe and sound. Let's not borrow trouble, hey?'

'Oh, don't think you're getting off that lightly.' Lily's voice was wobbly, but there was steel in it.

James reached for her again, and this time she didn't pull away quite so far. 'Could you…do you think you could scold me tomorrow? I don't want to do this right now.'

'I don't want to do it at all.' She sniffled. 'I want you to take better precautions so that I don't have to yell at you.'

He sighed. 'Lily. Stop it.'

She glowered at him for a moment, then her shoulders slumped. 'Okay. _Okay_. But we're talking about it tomorrow.'

'Alright.' He held his arms open for her, and for a moment he thought she was going to ignore it but then she collided with him hard, her arms looping around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulder.

'Scared me, Potter.'

'Yeah, I know, I'm an arse.'

'You really are.'

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	5. The Girlfriend and The Best Mate

**A/N: Prompt - Drunk Lily and Sirius**

**Rating: T**

**Extra warning No.1: Lots of swearing. Sirius is a potty mouth in my head. **

**Extra warning No.2: Being this drunk is very funny for the people around you, and probably even for you while it lasts. I don't recommend it though: drink responsibly kids!**

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'D'you, d'you…d'you know what I like about you Evans?'

Sirius waved his arm expansively, ignoring the firewhisky splashing out from the glass that he was grasping in that hand.

Lily peered over at him from James' bed, more sleepy than she'd like as an effect of the quarter bottle she'd thrown back like it was pumpkin juice. He features were currently rendered a little indistinct thanks to the haze of alcohol she was viewing him through, but she'd bet good money he was smirking. 'Don' lie Black.' She slurred at him. 'You don' like _anything_ 'bout me.'

'S'not true.' He pointed an accusatory finger at her. 'I like your, your, _damn the torpedoes_ attitude to alco…alchy…booze.'

Lily rolled onto her back and stared up the canopy of James' four poster. 'Thanks, I 'spose.'

They lay there in silence for a moment, and somewhere in the back of her mind the sober part of Lily was demanding to know why she'd chosen to accept when Sirius had offered her a drink. It had been James she was looking for, he hadn't been there, and she should have just left when she realised that it had been just Sirius in the boys' dorm, accompanied by a bottle of firewhisky for some unknown reason.

She should have said no, not just because she was Head Girl and was currently breaking multiple rules, not just because it would have been the sensible, reasonable thing to do, but because she should have made a point of remembering that she very definitely did not top the list of Sirius Black's favourite people.

But he'd said it with a hint of challenge in his voice, and she was Gryffindor enough that her pride and temper had risen up and she'd tugged the bottle away from him and taken several large swigs.

And then it hadn't seemed so important to find James, and it hadn't seemed so upsetting to have found out that her sister had set a wedding date from an offhand comment in a letter from her mother, and she'd taken another, and another, and now she was collapsed on her boyfriend's bed while his best friend gazed at her from his own with all the repressed anger and accusation that she'd come to expect from him.

'I don't _hate _you Evans.' Sirius' voice was thick, the words heavy on his tongue, but he seemed oddly serious and self-aware. She turned on her side to look at him.

'You've not had a good word to say about me since…since I started seeing James.' The words were difficult to form, almost like she had to round the sentence up and spit it out at once before the alcohol could fog up what she was trying to say.

Sirius scowled at her and took another long pull from the bottle. 'Ha! "Seeing" James. You can't, can't call it that Evans. You're not "seeing" James, you're fucking, fucking _glued_ to his fucking side.'

'So that's your problem.' Lily giggled as she flopped back on her back. 'You think James…_Prongs_, ha!…loves me best.'

'Fucking does.'

'Fucking does _not_.' Lily was surprised at both the coherency and the sharpness of her sentence. 'You…you're his _brother_. He worries himself sick over you. And you're too, too, too much of a _prick_ to give him a break over his girlfriend. He's been a wreck.'

Sirius stopped mid-swig of firewhisky, and considered her sentence with the sort of soul-searching introspection that one could only achieve whilst rip-roaring drunk. _Was_ he being a prick? He'd known about James' preference for Lily – it wasn't a crush, it was something else entirely – for what seemed like ages, and he'd been the first to slap James on the back when he finally found the nerve to ask her out _properly_. Partly because it meant an end to the 'I don't know if she likes me' saga, but still.

He'd been _happy_ for them. And sure, he didn't know Evans well, but James and Moony both did, even Pete thought she was nice, and she was a Gryffindor, and she liked transfiguration, and she had no time for shitty prejudices, or the people who held them. He'd thought she was as good a choice as any for James. Merlin knew he'd had worse girlfriends.

But then one month of dating had become two, Lily had become a fixture at mealtimes, James came up to the dorm later and later in the evenings, and did more and more of his homework in the Head's offices, and Sirius had lost his best mate. And it was all Lily Evans' fault.

Then he looked over at James' bed, at the redhead sprawled on it. The girl who made James happy, who'd brightened him up after he'd lost his dad last summer; who stood by Moony when she'd found out his furry little secret; who'd faithfully kept their little animagus secret.

And he felt like a crappy brother. If Lily thought James was worried about their relationship, then he was. He wouldn't lie to her, and she wouldn't lie to Sirius. If their friendship was suffering, it was his fault too, probably more than it was James'.

'Evans._ Evans_. **_Evans_**.'

'Bloody hell Sirius, _what_?' Lily groaned from her spot on the bed when it became clear that he wasn't going to be ignored.

'Thanks. For…kicking my arse.' The sentence was a little garbled through the alcoholic haze, but it was sincere.

'S'okay.'

'I don' hate you. Prongs loves you.'

'I know.'

'C'mere Evans.'

Lily lifted her head and stared through bleary eyes. 'Wha?'

'C'mere.'

'No. Why?'

'I want to hug you.'

'Fuck off.'

'C'mere and give me a fucking hug.'

'No.'

'Fine then.'

Lily closed her eyes, pleased that he'd seen sense. So she was pretty shocked when the mattress dipped and a pair of warm arms wrapped around her and pulled her in close. 'Wha? Black, wha…gerrof!'

'Shurrup Evans, we're_ reconciling_.'

'You're wasted.'

'Am not. _You're_ wasted.'

'You both look pretty wasted to me.' James voice, hovering somewhere between baffled and amused, floated in through the doorway where the man himself stood framed.

'Prongs!' Sirius shouted cheerfully, his arms still holding tightly onto Lily. 'Your girlfriend is very _soft_.'

'_You're_ soft. In the _head_.' Lily shoved him with her free hand then burst into giggles. Sirius followed a moment later, and James lifted his eyes to the heavens and prayed for patience and he shut the door behind him and attempted to deal with the two drunken fools.

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	6. James' Birthday Surprise

**A/N: Prompt - lily gives james a surprise for his birthday (maybe smutty)**

**Rating: M, please note I'm not kidding about the M!**

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Why had she ever thought for one single second that she could do this?

Because she couldn't. She definitely couldn't.

She'd no idea why she felt so nervous but there was something so incredibly nerve-wrackingly _different _about this. She wasn't exactly inexperienced, but letting herself into James' flat, decking herself out in fancy underwear and draping herself on his bed as a surprise …well, it had seemed so simple at the time.

Maybe she had time to blow all the candles out, and collect all the rose petals – _why _had she thought that was a good idea – and get out of this ridiculous lingerie before James came home, and then she could just pop over in a bit and pretend that the birthday 'surprise' she'd teased him about consisted of her taking him out for dinner.

She'd just grabbed her wand and was about to extinguish the candles when the slamming of a door made her freeze in place and she felt her heart rate increase just a little more. Shit. Home early.

Too late for a change of plan then. She looked down at her red and gold lingerie, and – oh God – red stilettos, straightened her spine, tossed her wand onto the bedside table and fluffed up her hair. She sat on the edge of the bed, crossed her legs and stared nervously at the door.

It opened and she held her breath, only to let it out again in one long huff when James almost fell through the door with his arms over his head as he wrestled his jumper off. Apparently he'd once again forgotten that it was easier to get his top off if he removed his glasses first.

As it was, he was a tangle of limbs, jumper and spectacles, and was seemingly completely unaware of the presence of his semi-naked girlfriend and several dozen candles.

Lily felt her nerves settle a little; no matter how strange she'd felt about this situation only a moment ago, James' unremitting dorkiness could always relax her. She felt her lips curve up into a smile, and she stretched her arms back behind her to support her weight as she inclined her body back.

James finally yanked the jumper over his head and threw it to the floor. Lily tried and utterly failed to supress a giggle at the sight of his crooked glasses and messier than usual hair, and he whipped around at the sound.

His mouth actually fell open. She'd always thought that was one of those overblown clichés that never really happened in real life, but his jaw _actually _dropped. Feeling oddly confident now, she gave him a feline smile.

'Happy birthday.'

He looked at her, blinked repeatedly, and then squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he just stared. 'You're still here.'

She lifted an eyebrow. 'Should I not be?'

'I thought you might have been a figment of my imagination.' He muttered. 'Or that Sirius had drugged me with something hallucinatory.'

'Nope.' She leaned forward, arms resting on the edge of the bed, feeling an odd thrill of victory when James' eyes dropped immediately to her – admittedly impressively boosted - cleavage before he remembered himself and focused on her face. 'Still here.'

'Yeah, you are aren't you?' He moved towards her and she tilted her head back to keep eye contact as he towered above her. 'How about that?'

He straddled her legs, knees resting on the mattress, and shoved her back, following her body down with his so that he could kiss her fiercely. She giggled against his lips as his hands slid up her sides, and she arched her back to press her heated flesh against his. He bit her lip gently, and then pulled back so that he was once again kneeling over her. He ran a hand down her leg until he reached her foot, and hooked the red stiletto off with one finger. He dangled the shoe above her.

'These shoes Evans…' He threw it over his shoulder and reached for her other foot, tugging off the second heel. '…don't ever wear them around me in public okay? Because that will make me think of this…' He lowered himself back down onto her. '…and that can only lead to trouble.'

His lips trailed down her neck, all the way to her covered breasts, and when she felt him nip at the edge of the fabric she dug her nails into his shoulder, delighted when he let out a stream of muffled curses against her skin and reached around her back to unclasp her bra.

When he pulled away from her for a moment, she took advantage and rolled them over until she was straddling James' hips. 'That's a lot of clothes you have on there Potter.'

Her fingers popped the button fly open in seconds, and then she pushed off the bed and onto her feet so that she could yank off his trousers and boxers in one easy motion.

James' head fell back onto the mattress with a thump, his face stuck in a stupidly happy grin at the turn his birthday evening had taken, but he only had a moment to think clearly before Lily's mouth closed over him and he sucked in a deep breath and fisted his hands in his duvet, profanities spilling from his lips in an incoherent flood.

'Fuck…Merlin…Christ…'

Lily glanced up at him mischievously, replacing her mouth with her hand. 'You can just call me Evans.'

He growled at her as he sat bolt upright and grabbed her under the arms, pulling her back onto the bed and flipping them over so she was pinned beneath him. His fingers slipped under the edge of her lacy knickers, and she gasped at his first touch, feather-light and teasing.

He worked her underwear down her legs and was hovering back over her in seconds, his lips running over every inch of her face. 'I love you, you know that right? And not just because of the Gryffindor themed underwear, although I'm not going to lie, I love that too.'

She grinned at him. 'I know it.'

He grinned back, and pressed his forehead down onto hers as he pushed into her, feeling her back arch off the bed and press her breasts into his chest on a ragged gasp.

His fingers spanned the skin of her back, thumbs brushing gently over her spine as he moved easily, his mouth moving to cover hers and swallow her gasps. Her hands moved up to thread through his hair, and she pressed herself tighter to him.

He didn't quite manage to bite back a groan at the feel of her bare skin flush to his, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, eliminating any gap that had existed between them. Lily could feel that odd liquid pull in the pit of her belly already, and she fisted her hand in his hair and turned her head to nip at his ear while her body tensed and heated under him.

He stiffened and slowed his movements, but her tongue running over his earlobe was the final straw and she heard him groan his climax just moments after her whole body shuddered and her eyes went momentarily blind.

'Fucking hell.' He slumped onto her, his face planting into the sheets alongside hers. 'Happy birthday to me.'

She laughed and pushed him off her, and he rolled onto his back and dragged her over to tuck into his side. 'You'll be the death of me, I swear you will.'

'Yeah.' She panted as she tugged gently on his hair again. 'But what a way to go right?'

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	7. Red Heels

**A/N: Prompt - Lily wear the red heels at an order meeting (the ones she wore for James Birthday Surprise) which leads James to become a bit horny**

**Rating: M, but only just!**

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She was doing it on _purpose_.

She had to be. She had to know that every time she shifted in her seat he caught sight of those _bloody_ shoes, and his mind catapulted him straight back to his birthday and the sight of her in skimpy red underwear as she lay draped across his bed. He'd _said_ as much at the time.

He'd wondered why she'd sat down on the other side of the room, leaving no room directly next to her. He was pretty confident that she'd done it so he'd have to sit far enough away that he could see and notice all the nuances of her movements. That was practically bloody _Slytherin_.

Of course the dress didn't help. Stupid creamy coloured dress with its stupid hem that only came to halfway down her thighs so he could see a good clear length of leg, and it's stupid, _stupid _neckline that dipped just low enough to drive him crazy while still being decent enough to be seen in public.

It was a good thing he was at the very back of the room where no-one was looking in his direction, because he'd been staring at her for a good ten minutes now, and he hadn't heard a word anyone had said at this stupid meeting. What a waste of time. _Valuable_ time, that right at that moment he could think of _plenty _of other uses for.

Maybe he could pretend to pass out. Maybe if he just slid sideways off his chair with a thump and pretended he was sick she'd take him home, and then he could work on getting her out of the dress. While simultaneously keeping her _in_ the heels.

He shifted uncomfortably in the seat, adjusting his position slightly. With the way things were going, there was a possibility that he might _actually _pass out; there was a serious lack of blood flow to his brain.

Lily moved in her seat, and she must have caught him looking out of the corner of her eye because with a gentle and inconspicuous wriggle in her seat she turned her head to look at him, and then she gave him a suggestive grin and winked.

_Winked._ Actually_ winked_ at him. She knew. She knew _exactly_ what she was doing, and it was all on purpose, and that thought just made him squirm in his seat a little more.

He glanced back at her just in time to see her cross her legs, and as she did so she discreetly adjusted her skirt to flash him a little more of her thigh. If he hadn't already thought she was doing this deliberately, the feline little grin she shot him as she smoothed a hand over the material of her dress would have convinced him.

He tuned back in to the meeting only when Lily shifted in her seat and whispered something to Hestia, sitting quietly on her other side. Then she rose and left the room without a glance in his direction.

But if there was one thing James Potter was _not_, it was slow on the uptake. He rose quietly from his seat and slipped out of the room unnoticed, then he followed the sound of clicking heels on tiled floor.

Bloody shoes. Had their uses though.

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	8. Irrational

**A/N: Prompt - Lily and James are together, some random person is flirting with Lily (which she doesn't realize) and James notices.**

**Rating: T**

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'So you've just finished at Hogwarts?' The blond wizard – David, she was almost certain it was David – returned from the bar and settled himself down onto the seat opposite her, smiling the whole time.

Lily smiled back and took another sip of her drink. 'Uh huh. Term ended two days ago, and my friends decided that we needed to celebrate, blow off a little steam.'

'So that's how you ended up in the Cat and Cauldron on a Saturday night!' He laughed loudly. 'Witches like you don't come by here very often.'

She stiffened automatically. 'What does that mean, witches like me?'

'Oh you know, beautiful, smart, funny.' He waved an arm to indicate the room at large. 'This place tends to run more to crotchety old wizards and the occasional passing auror.'

Lily relaxed immediately; she'd grown so used to comments like that referring to her blood status that she assumed it automatically now. 'One of my friends knew this place, we were after somewhere that wasn't too busy.'

'Well, you picked a great spot.' David threw her another huge grin. 'This place doesn't know the meaning of busy.'

'I quite like it.' Lily took in the low beams, the wood fire, the dark bar furniture.

'Oh, it's a nice enough pub,' David agreed, 'just not very busy. Not many wizarding communities nearby see? Most people have a local that they stick to, and this place gets by on travellers and the few regulars it has.'

'Like you?' Lily asked with a grin.

He laughed loudly at that. 'Yeah, most weekends see me in here, living it up with Bruce and Samuel over there.' With a jerk of his thumb he indicated a pair of ancient wizards sitting closest to the fire and apparently arguing over whose round it was.

Lily grinned, and he took a big gulp of his drink. 'I work on the magical creatures reserve up the road. We've not got much exotic, but it's a start. One day I might manage to get into dragon keeping or something.'

Her eyebrows shot up. 'That seems…risky?'

He shrugged. 'Makes life worth living really, the occasional risk.'

Lily was about to reply when a warm body threw itself into the seat next to her. 'Hey sweetheart.' James picked her hand up and twined their fingers together, looking steadily at David the entire time. Lily watched him with amusement before turning to David.

'This is my boyfriend James.' That introduction ought to soothe any ruffled feathers. 'James this is…'

'David.' He interrupted with a winning smile, offering his hand. James shook it politely, but Lily could see the suspicious edge to his posture. Perhaps David could too, because he smiled again and stood up.

'I'll leave you two alone, I'm sure you don't need a third wheel. Nice to meet you both.' He headed off towards where Marlene was trying to bait Sirius into trying some weird drink she'd ordered at the bar. She was close to succeeding.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned to James. 'Alright caveman?'

'What?' He asked innocently.

'Did you have to get all "ur, grunt, mine" about things?'

A flicker of a scowl crossed James' face. 'He was flirting with you.'

'He was _not_. He's just enjoying seeing some new people in here, that's all. He's very nice actually.'

'Yeah, well, I'll take your word for it.'

'Honestly James, it is possible for some people to just be _nice_.'

'Yeah it is, but_ he_ was flirting.'

Lily sighed, her exasperation dispelling quickly enough. She still didn't think that David had been flirting with her – certainly not seriously anyway – but she supposed it would have been easy for it to seem that he was when you could just see them chatting and laughing from across the bar. Looking at James' grouchy face, she felt a giggle begin to bubble up her throat and she leaned over to kiss his cheek. 'Even if he was, I'm not interested.'

He didn't answer, so she let her lips wander across to the corner of his mouth. 'You're so cute when you're jealous and pouty.'

That did it. 'I don't pout.'

'Yeah you do.'

'I do _not_. Shut up.'

_There_ was the opening she'd been waiting for. 'Make me.'

His head turned immediately towards her, and even as he pulled her face in towards his she could see his grin; he was never mad for long.

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